Unhoused and Menstruating: How Policies Can Help Eternally
© Bust Magazine | TheHomelessPeriod
Period poverty means, but does not limit to, the inability to afford and access period products. Donating period products to homeless shelters is a band-aid solution to period poverty for the unhoused and does nothing to structurally address poverty as a whole. To understand how we can advance period equity for the unhoused, we must look into why period poverty is prevalent in the first place, then dissect why homelessness is a reality in our community. We tend to focus on immediately addressing an issue in society with short-term solutions. We should rather examine the roots of the problem and then strategically deracinate the causes, thereby solving the societal scourge eternally.
Why do we donate period products to shelters?
Donation drives are organized by workplaces and educational institutions to successfully collect a large number of menstrual products for shelters several times annually. We donate period products because of the normalized nature of their exorbitant cost: a box of tampons can cost $15 or more, maxi-pads $18 and ultra-thins $25 in Nunavummiut; Canadian menstruators are estimated to spend up to $6,000 on menstrual products; in Northern Indigenous communities, the cost of period products can reach up to $45 a box. Bleeding with dignity was never free, it’s a costly human right for the financially privileged.
People with monthly periods can’t easily cut back on consumption or wait for prices to decline. Nonprofits can’t get their hands on as many pads and tampons as they used to because of rising prices and high shipping costs that make it harder to deliver supplies to local distributors. So the next question is:
Why are period products so expensive?
Rising costs of the basic right of access to human dignity can be explained by supply chain stress. Plastics and super-absorbents come from oil, which is priced about 70% higher from a year ago, due in part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Demand for polymers is also rising as companies seek to make diapers, period products, and incontinence goods thinner and more comfortable. Prices for fluff pulp have increased due to a demand and supply imbalance made worse by high costs for transportation, labor, and the natural gas that powers many mills. Cotton availability has also been under threat due to extreme drought, especially in states like Texas, the top-producing state in the U.S. This furthers fuels expectations that overall cotton production will decline in the states, worrisome as America is the world’s biggest exporter of cotton. Higher prices for consumer goods are a result of corporate power, which has allowed companies to mark up prices and increase profit margins.
The solution is a policy that makes more products more affordable by including them in federal assistance programs and by mandating free products at educational institutions and other public places. Newfoundland and Labrador’s Premier, Andrew Furey, stated: “The lack of access to period products has been an unacceptable barrier to education that has resulted in missed opportunities, uncomfortable conversations, and unhygienic solutions. Young people in Newfoundland and Labrador should not be losing out or feel embarrassed because they cannot afford or cannot access menstrual products. This program is an investment in youth health and wellness” when he announced details for making period products available to students in the K-12 school system. But students in secondary and post-secondary educational institutions need to avail of this structural solution as well.
What is the real reason for homelessness?
We have examined period poverty at its root, but in order to realize period equity for the unhoused, we need to question the prevalence of homelessness. The reasons are an interplay of structural factors, individual circumstances as well as system failures rather than a single cause. For policy-focused solutions, we need to make structural factors our focal point. Structural factors are economic and societal issues that affect opportunities and social environments for individuals. Key factors can include the lack of adequate income, access to affordable housing, health support, and/or the experience of discrimination. Shifts in the economy both nationally and locally create challenges for people to earn an adequate income, pay for food, and afford housing.
Systems-level recommendations include passing legislation to include menstrual products in public assistance programs and addressing the root cause of the issue through a housing-first model. Getting people housed creates stability in the long term and makes menstrual health management much easier to address: there needs to be political will to address the issue and our decision-makers need to recognize the importance of period equity being included in support services. Leaders need to invest in resources, create policies, and partner with organizations to quickly resolve an experience of homelessness and to connect people to affordable housing opportunities.
Systems-level change requires advocacy and coalition-building rather than service provision. This is a heartfelt gratitude to all initiatives serving as guiding organizations for people or entities passionate about ending period poverty, the stigma around menstruation, and promoting menstrual equity. To dismantle the longstanding systemic and structural failures, educators, legislators, nonprofits, product companies, the many advocates for menstrual equity, and most importantly, the people in power, need to come together to increase the well-being of people experiencing homelessness.
Leisha Toory is a Political Science student at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and is the founder of the Period Priority Project.
